Jordan Goodwin was one of the most unexpected surprises for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. After being called up on a two-way contract, the guard became a trusted part of head coach JJ Redick’s rotation and eventually saw his contract converted to a standard one.
Redick has maintained that trust in the postseason and Goodwin was solid for the Lakers on the road in Game 3, finishing a team-high +9 in just 12 minutes. Unfortunately, the Lakers were unable to come away with the victory in front of a raucous Minnesota crowd, but Goodwin felt those Timberwolves fans were playing a little dirty.
Following the Lakers loss, Goodwin noted that he heard whistles being blown from the crowd multiple times before it was finally addressed, even recalling one instance which caused LeBron James to briefly pause as he thought the play was dead, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
Jordan Goodwin said he heard a whistle coming from the stands three or four times in the second half before it was addressed by the arena announcer. He said there was another play where LeBron James paused momentarily after the fan’s whistle, assuming it was the ref.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 26, 2025
Fans are always expected to create the best atmosphere they can for their home team. But something like this should’ve been addressed immediately after the first time it is heard. Those whistles can very much affect play on the court, such as the instance of Luka Doncic stopping on a defensive fastbreak because he thought officials had stopped play.
The Minnesota public address announced eventually told the crowd to stop, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again in Game 4.
Regardless of what the crowd is doing though, the Lakers must ignore it and come out better in Game 4 as they are at a serious risk of going down 3-1 in the series, which is an almost impossible deficit to come back from. Goodwin had a positive impact in Game 3 so it will be interesting to see if Redick trusts him a bit more in Sunday’s must-win contest.
Jaden McDaniels says Timberwolves crowd is better than Lakers crowd
Timberwolves wing Jaden McDaniels of course had no issue with the Timberwolves crowd and even took a shot at Lakers fans following Game 3.
When asked about the Minnesota home fans, McDaniels said that they are definitely better than the Lakers’ crowd while big man Naz Reid added that they were the ‘real sixth man’ on Friday night.
Needless to say, the Crypto.com Arena crowd will be sure to be at another level when these two teams return to L.A. for Game 5 and rest assured the Lakers’ fans will be showering McDaniels with some extra boos after taking a shot at them.
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